Providing a discounted retail price on a product or service is a time-honored method of increasing sales, increasing brand, product and service visibility and expanding the market for the product or service. However, providing a discount is a method to be used with care since frequent discounting may lead to a customer perception of decreased value such that customers are unwilling to pay the retail value under any circumstances.
A recent trend in discounting has been the association of a discount with “points,” “miles,” or other form of non-cash currency accumulated in order for the customer to realize a discount on a product or service. Such “mileage” or “point” accounts have the advantage of heightening customer loyalty to a particular product or service provider as well as providing the perception that “extra” value is received when points or miles are delivered along with the purchased product. Nevertheless, in spite of the benefits of such loyalty point program discounting methods, the disadvantages of such schemes often outweigh the advantages. For example, a delivery of “points,” “miles,” or other form of non-cash currency to a customer requires the product or service provider to incur an expense on its income statement and carry liability for redemption of the virtual currency on the books. Management of virtual currency accounts implicates significant costs to the product or service provider. Additionally, customers are often frustrated with limitations on “spending” their accumulated non-cash currency.
Thus, there is a continuing need for systems and methods for providing a discount using a virtual currency which provides high-perceived savings value to a customer while maintaining the perception of product value. It would be a tremendous benefit to service and product providers who maintain “points,” “miles,” or other form of non-cash currency accounts to allow customers to “spend” such non-cash currency at little or no cost to the providers.
Thus, systems and methods for providing a discount are needed which require little or no cost to the service or product provider. In addition, systems and methods for providing a discount are needed which allow a customer to spend non-cash currency require little or no cost to the non-cash currency provider.